Some thoughts about combating the madness before heading to the protest with friends.
Moaning about how horrible Trump is without taking action is counter-productive and defeatist. Those who do so constantly are not our friends. Beware of woke-lefties who have morphed into being alt-right.
If a Trumpster becomes disillusioned, for God’s sake, don’t ask them why it took so long. Instead, welcome them to the fight. Some of the most implacable Never Trumpers are conservative neocons.
Everything needs to be fought against. If Trump opens a new attack, we must respond. I’m pretty sure Churchill thought at least once, can’t I just have tea in peace without Hitler doing something deranged. Then he got into action.
If you want to be civil, be civil. If you want to create a ruckus, do that too. There isn’t just one approach.
You will feel better if you fight back consistently, every day. Action is a fine antidote for despair. Also, you probably will lose friends. This goes with the territory.
Some history: During the 1960’s – early 1970’s leaders were murdered. Hundreds of cities burned. There were ginormous civil rights and anti-war protests. Leftie bombings and kidnappings too. Massive polarization. The war ended, civil rights happened, a corrupt president fell. We survived and prevailed. We will this time too.
There is no one way to fight back. We all have different skill sets. People should do what works for them. The key, of course, is to do something every day. Contribute money to Democratic candidates and PACs. Volunteer for a campaign. Make phone calls for a PAC. Register new voters. Bombard your congress members with phone calls.Call out crap on social media but don’t feed the trolls.
If you’ve up for it, block, fight, resist, uncover and publicize Russian and right-wing bots and trolls on Twitter and Facebook. This can be bruising, but hey, it’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it.
Most of all, focus on what you can do, then do it.